


Room in your Heart

by Ringshadow



Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (2012)
Genre: Everyone Is Poly Because Avengers, F/M, M/M, Multi, OT7
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-03-20
Updated: 2013-03-20
Packaged: 2017-12-05 22:39:06
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,333
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/728694
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Ringshadow/pseuds/Ringshadow
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Tony Stark actually has real friends.<br/>Which is fine. Great. Wonderful even.<br/>Until he falls in love with all of them.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Room in your Heart

**Author's Note:**

> I wasn't planning on uploading this, but the hell with it. Why not.
> 
> Ship all the ships.

In the end, the best Tony Stark can say is that he never meant for it all to happen.  
Inviting the rest of the Avengers to stay in his tower was obvious, once the repair work was done. He wanted to keep his new friends close if he could, and they’d all agreed, one by one. Bruce had been the first, hell Bruce had gone home with him the same day as the events. Then a few months passed and Tony found himself dancing a tense tango around everyone, playing an avoidance game, hiding in his labs and wondering what was wrong with him.  
Falling in love with Pepper had been a kind of slow strange revelation, that even he was capable of it for starters. His manwhore days had been over anyway, because there weren’t a whole lot of people who could handle the stress, the scars, the fucking reactor glowing in his chest like a beacon. Yeah, that didn’t say sexy to most people. But Pepper had always kissed it gently, and said it kept “her Tony” alive and that was enough to make it sexy to her.  
Then there was Bruce, who looked at it with restrained reverence, a quiet level of awe, and who spent a week dancing around the issue before he asked if he could touch it. And Tony had shrugged and pulled his shirt up, watching Bruce’s clever hands trace around it and the light reflect in Bruce’s glasses as his brow wrinkled a bit, taking it in. And there had been no disgust, no brave face, no pity.  
“You really are amazing sometimes. This is beautiful.”  
And something in Tony had snapped. Bruce, restrained, zen, adorable and weird and so fucking smart that Tony was sure he’d only scratched the surface. Bruce, who smiled at him across the work tables, accepting Tony’s music and off kilter attitude and general eccentricities. Tony felt something in his chest do a strange twist, skin twitching at the feel of Bruce’s hands and brain going into overdrive, and he’d had to restrain himself to keep from pulling Bruce in and kissing him. As it was, one of hands had silently tightened on the edge of the work table, hard enough it hurt.  
He’d found solace in Pepper’s lap that night. She’d been sitting on the couch in their apartment, and he’d just flopped, stretching across her lap and sighing out, feeling her twist a finger through a curl in his hair and wait for him to say his piece. So, he’d cut to the chase about it. “I really fucking want Bruce.” The words tumbled out, and he’d wondered if he should start apologizing to Pepper, but her fingers only continued to play with his hair.  
“Good. So do I.”  
And he’d blinked and twisted to look at her, and she’d quirked an eyebrow at him, the sheer naughtiness of the expression sending a kind of shock through his body. “Why, Miss Potts, I had no idea you were that kinky.”  
She’d only laughed, and he’d pushed up to kiss her, relieved and excited and that weird twisting in his chest again. Eventually the embrace eased out and she nuzzled him, smiling. “So, we don’t want to scare him off.”  
“I’m not sure he’s that skittish.” He’d replied, thinking of Bruce’s hands caressing around the reactor, leaving goosebumps in their wake.  
“Do you want to bring it up or shall I?”  
In the end, she did. He’d been in the lab with Bruce, just another day, though for some reason the topic of that moment had been wind turbines. Bruce had seen an article about abandoned wind turbines in Hawaii and was wondering if there was a long term solution to such a thing. Tony was of the opinion that trying to harness weather for power was like trying to herd cats, as much as he was for green power and sustainable these days, and he’d funded enough wind turbines thank you. Pepper clicked into the lab, delivering stuff for Tony to get around to signing eventually, and then turned to Bruce.  
“Our bedroom door is open. Just so you know.” And she’d smiled, easy and beautiful, and walked right back out.  
Bruce had stared after her, tapping one of the wire frame table’s light pens slowly on the table without thinking about it, then looked at Tony. And Tony had looked up from his stack of fucking bullshit business paperwork, and just smiled, because he knew if he said a word he’d mess this up. He could see gears turning in Bruce’s head for a moment, then the other man had just quietly taken his glasses off and set them on the table, then the papers were scattered and forgotten because Bruce was in his arms kissing him like he was a lifeline. And Tony had grinned into it, laughed a little maybe, pulling him close and returning it with equal passion, stroking his hands down Bruce’s back and hooking his hands under Bruce’s rear to pick him up and lift him to the edge of the work table.  
There’d been a quiet moment, then, the kiss easing out, Bruce sitting on the table with his arms draped over Tony’s shoulders, foreheads leaning together. Tony was stunned, wondering how he hadn’t seen this, waiting for Bruce to say something, anything.  
“You treated me like a person.” Bruce finally said. “You never once treated me like a risk, like a monster. You trusted me to come through when everyone else had written me off.”  
“You’re not a risk and you are far from a monster. I’ve met monsters.” Tony replied. “You are a brilliant sweet man and you needed someone to remind you of that.”  
He laughed a little, a blush creeping up across his cheeks that Tony thought was adorable before he’d pulled Tony into another kiss, hooking a leg behind him to pull him in close. That night, Bruce quietly followed him back to his apartment and asked if he could sleep there that night. And Bruce wasn’t afraid, or even nervous. Just wanting a timeline. Pepper had only smiled and pulled him into a kiss, new and tender and sweet. Tony had watched and concluded that was one of the hottest things he’d ever seen.  
So, Bruce came to stay. Sometimes he stayed in his own place, but more often than not he was cuddled down with them. Tony held them both and felt Bruce Banner neatly slip past the armor of wiseassing and attitude and general I-don’t-give-a-fuck to land in his heart and curl up there, next to Pepper. And Jarvis, though that was something he’d long kept to himself (Jarvis was family). Tony was more than okay with it, more than okay with Bruce in his bed, under him, the adorable embarrassed squeaks of pleasure the other man made when he came.  
Tony didn’t give one thought to the fact that Bruce had slipped past his emotional armor, and maybe he should have, because the other man not only found the crack, he wedged a pry bar in it and broke the armor open, and Tony came tumbling out, confused and without grounding and feeling everything changing around him. Bruce was just the first domino to fall.  
He wasn’t even sure when it started happening. He’d just caught himself watching… everyone. Yeah, in battle he was the closest thing they had to aerial support and he had to keep tabs on everyone’s location and coordinate closely with them. He’d managed not to get distracted in battle but that had been difficult because he was surrounded by some of the most talented people he’d ever dealt with. And it wasn’t that he was lonely, at least he didn’t think so, Pepper and Bruce holding him was happy and peaceful.  
So why the hell couldn’t Tony keep his wandering eyes off everyone else, picking out things and watching them and then having to force himself to walk away as his chest did the weird twist again? Steve’s insane body and strength, and that smile that was like something out of an old film. Steve was learning to play acoustic guitar and wow, that didn’t help either. Clint, strong and silent and in the background, a strange sensual shadow, watching and guarding. Natasha, elegant and guarded and dangerous, she’d seen Tony low, she’d seen him dying and damn near dead, and yeah she kind of scared him but he trusted her. Even Thor, the static charge that followed him everywhere, the odd cross between overpowering masculinity and confidence and some sort of gentle side.  
And the avoidance game began, avoiding the group, avoiding the common areas. His schedule changed, going to the gym at odd hours, burying himself in the lab. He knew he was being far from subtle, and he saw it in Bruce’s eyes, but the other man never asked, and he didn’t provide any information. He spent his frustration on his projects, on a punching bag, retreated further away. Lying awake at night, feeling the two people in bed with him and trying to figure out why his eyes wandered without him commanding them, why the twist in his chest had turned into a raw screaming ache. Waiting for someone to ask him why he’d become so antisocial when before he was the first one to crack a keg and put in a movie (they’d all started gently encouraging him to drink less, and wow, what that spare bit of caring had done to him for a few days).  
Tony never would have guessed, for a second, that everyone else was watching him and conspiring against him. And never would have guessed that Pepper was taking charge of the situation, and was just waiting for him to admit it to himself and to her.  
Eventually, he reached a breaking point, sleep deprived and frankly freaking out, retreating to her lap and curling up, hugging himself. Of course, it was different because now Bruce was there, sitting on his other side and putting a hand gently on his back, waiting.  
“I think I’m losing my fucking mind.” He finally said, rubbing his eyes. “I’m seriously starting to wonder about having everyone here.”  
Pepper’s hand played with his hair, and she looked at Bruce and lifted an eyebrow at him. He lifted one back, fingers playing at Tony’s spine, in the small of his back. “You’re the happiest you’ve been in most of your life, so you’re going to have a hard time convincing me you actually regret it.” Pepper finally said, looking down at him.  
“Yeah. I am, but…” He couldn’t even say the truth about it. He wanted, well, everyone. And he felt like a terrible boyfriend and a bit of a slut even thinking about it. He hadn’t touched anyone but shit, how could you tell the two people in your life that you kind of wanted to screw all your friends and it was quickly becoming strange and painful and overpowering? Tony wasn’t used to having to say no to his desires. If he wanted it, he got it, and now he was backing away, running away, because there was something seriously wrong with this situation, and him. And that didn’t even take into account the raw ache in his chest that was demanding a closeness to everyone that terrified him.  
“You think we don’t know?” Bruce replied, fingers still brushing along his spine. “You’re not exactly the master of subtle, you know. You’ve been flat out running away from everyone else and when you get stuck on the elevator with them you look like you’re about to climb the walls.”  
Tony made a tiny broken noise. “I am so sorry. I don’t know why, I…”  
“We aren’t upset.” Pepper said, fingers rubbing his scalp. “Well, we kind of are but it’s only because it’s taken you this long to be honest with yourself.” When he rolled at gave her a confused as hell stare, she just smiled at him. “How about you just let me handle it?”  
“Yeah. Okay.” He replied. Pepper ran his company. Pepper could handle it, apologize to everyone, maybe he could start working past this. He didn’t even think to ask for details. He should have.  
So the next day she went up to the rumpus room, took a headcount, folded her arms and sighed. “Okay, open season on Tony starts now. And he’s really freaking out, so…”  
“He’s freaking out? I don’t even know what the hell this is.” Clint replied, sitting on the back of the couch.  
Pepper just smiled at him. “Adapt.”  
Clint lifted an eyebrow. Steve was off in thought, so was Thor, Natasha just rolled her eyes. “How exactly did it come to this?”  
And Pepper smiled and shrugged. “Does it matter?”  
Steve caught Tony first, the same day, trying to dodge through the gym. He’d wanted to work out but with his sleeping shot and his eating habits not far behind, his muscles had returned an enthusiastic “fuck you very much”, and he’d given up, trying to retreat and seeing the elevator ding. A split second of panic had lead him to head for the stairs instead, because he still hadn’t reconciled whatever this was, and that fast Steve was on him, trapping him against the wall by the stairway door, arms caging in him in and staring down at him.  
“Talk to me, Tony.” Steve’s voice was quiet, but commanding, staring down at him and daring him to even try to run away.  
Tony felt a quiver pass through his body, the ache in his chest singing so hard he put a hand there and rubbed, next to the reactor, legs struggling to support his bodyweight. “Steve, I…” He had to fight for words, for air, fucking Captain America looming over him, his scent clean and somehow old, Steve carried the forties around with him like an aura.  
“No. Talk to me. You’ve been running away from us and we’re tired of watching you do so. I’m tired of you acting like you’re scared of me.” Steve stared down at him, into his eyes, watching panic war with a spark of hope and what looked a lot like love.  
Tony only whimpered, pushing back against the wall like he could meld with it, hands scratching into the drywall so he wouldn’t put his hands all over Steve, that line between his pecs and down to his abs and his fucking hair shit shit shit he needed to get away from this, even as the hurt in his chest kept singing closer, closer, hold me. He nearly jumped out of his skin when Steve’s fingers traced along his jawline, closing his eyes and trembling, helpless. “Steve, please…” He didn’t even know what he was asking for anymore, brain screaming get away and heart thumping closer, closer, love me.  
Steve blew out a sigh, watching the eccentric genius come apart in front of him and giving up. Tony wasn’t going to admit anything, he didn’t even know what was going on here. Steve was pretty sure he did, he’d felt Tony’s gaze while he was working out, while the group was together, caught the weird affectionate smile Tony did when Steve fucked up the modern era or when he was playing guitar or a million other tiny things. So he shifted and covered Tony’s body with his own, pressing him against the wall and wrapping his arms around him, one low on Tony’s back the other coming up to cradle along the back of his head and neck. The noise Tony made in response was heartbreaking, something between panic and ecstasy, the shorter man staring up at him and trembling against him, mouth barely open, and Steve wasn’t one to turn down an invitation when he saw it.  
Tony’s eyes widened when Steve kissed him, slow and warm, hands coming up to grip Steve’s upper arms then slip around him to keep Steve there. What the fuck was going on? Even thinking about it was jettisoned in favor of hello, Captain America was kissing him, and he pushed up into it a bit, eyes sliding shut again, letting his weight get supported, starting to relax. Steve purred and deepened the kiss, tongue flicking for permission and Tony melted, the singing ache in his chest unwinding a bit as he met Steve’s tongue with his own.  
Steve smiled and gathered him close, feeling some of the tension slowly release from Tony’s body. The inventor tasted of coffee and something else, fruit maybe, and he chased the taste, trying not to push too hard too fast but dammit, Tony, Tony who’d proven him wrong and invited him in then tried to run away from him. Nothing doing, hell no, the thought underscored when one of Tony’s hands got into his hair and stroked slowly, lightly, like he was going to break something. Steve let the kiss back off and nuzzled him until he opened his eyes, looking at him, the deep lost pools of brown and black. “Before you say anything, Pepper said I could.”  
Tony blinked, then burst into giddy laughter, leaning his forehead on Steve’s chest. “Yeah, okay. So, uh…”  
“How about you just admit you love me and come to my bed?” Steve wanted to know, grinning when he felt the shorter man jump a bit in his arms.  
“Captain Rogers, I never.” Tony said, just… shocked, feeling a flutter in his chest as the remains and scraps of armor came down, Steve casually brushing that all away and taking up residence in his heart, another domino falling with slow inevitable finality.  
“Well, you don’t seem the wine and dine type, but I did make some reservations.” Steve cupped his face and tilted his head gently to look at him. “That is, if you think you can handle being seen in public with me.”  
“You’re kidding, right?” Tony smirked. “I’ll have the best looking date in New York. We have a few hours until dinner, though.”  
“Yes, we do.” He stepped back and watched Tony whine from the loss of contact and heat, settling on taking his hand and dragging him to the elevator.  
Steve was gentle, powerful, overwhelming, his want a force of nature. Tony was already rendered helpless and he took everything Steve had to offer, luxuriated in it, absolutely ecstatic to have Steve’s strong protective body on top of him. He still wasn’t sure what was happening around him but he was starting not to care. Hell, anything that ended in Captain America making love to you for a few hours had to be a good thing right? And he still wasn’t one for emotions, or at least discussing them, but they came tumbling out anyway, and Steve held him and never judged him, one hand tracing circles and arcs around and on the arc reactor, respectful and gentle.  
Dinner was pretty awesome too, and afterward Steve dropped him off at his apartment, kissed him goodbye, not a care in the world that Tony was staggering back inside to Bruce and Pepper. And they caught him as he collapsed in bed, laughing and asking some frankly rude questions, and laughing harder when Tony refused to kiss and tell. Yeah, that lasted about five minutes. And a few hours later, mostly asleep and trapped between Pepper and Bruce, wondering how three people had come to love the trainwreck that he was. Naturally, he’d underestimated the situation by a bit.  
Life went on. The twisty pain in his chest was less, enough to ignore for a while, and he went about his work. He and Bruce actually got some work done in lab and he was able to come up to the rumpus room, for a little while at least, not jumping away when Steve’s hand brushed across his shoulders while he was getting everyone drinks. Yeah, his heart still did a little jump if he got within a few feet of Clint, Natasha, or Thor, but he felt a bit more settled about things.  
It was a few days after Steve had taken him out. He was going to his office, because surprise surprise he did have one in the tower, still dressed from a meeting Pepper had asked him to go to and he had, and he’d even marginally paid attention. Though most of his higher functions had been off designing a new steam turbine, possibly. Still some math to do on it. He’d let himself into his office, lost in blade arrangements and alloys, and come to abrupt halt a step in front of the door because Natasha was sitting on his desk waiting for him, knees crossed demurely.  
He jumped and started taking a step back, but Clint had faded in behind him, shutting the door and standing there so when he backed up, he backed right into Clint. “Uh, hi?” He said after a second, folding his arms and managing not to put a hand on his chest this time as panic fought with the rising ache there.  
“Told you he’d be coming here afterwards.” Natasha quirked a smile.  
“Point for you.” Clint was right behind Tony, exhaling across the back of his neck, and Tony’s eyes went wide.  
“What the hell is going… on…?” Tony trailed out when Clint’s hands settled on his shoulder, nuzzling the back of neck then shoving him forwards toward Natasha. He staggered and caught himself a few steps later, and she was able to reach forward and grab his tie, reel him in. “Guys, I’m… I don’t know…”  
“Oh, I think you do.” Natasha did the smile again, hand still on the expensive silk tie. “Relax, we have clearance from Pepper.”  
Tony swallowed hard, twitching when Clint’s teeth found one of his ears, standing behind him again. “Oh my god what did Pepper tell you all.” He barely got the words out because his heart was trying to come out of his chest by shoving the arc reactor out of the way, that needy howling double tap ache. Closer, closer, hold me, touch me, love me, closer, closer.  
She pulled him in closer, hooking a leg around his waist to keep him from trying to bolt, watching Tony’s eyes, the light in them. “Does it matter?” Her kiss was soft, gentle, and he gave up and moaned into it when Clint pulled his suit jacket off and tossed it aside. And after that he really didn’t even care what Pepper had told everyone. Clint and Natasha were gentle, fierce though, insistent, and he had no problem letting himself get trapped between them, two sets of clever dexterous hands stroking over him. And two more dominoes fell, the strong silent deadly dangers of Clint and Natasha nestling down in his heart with the others.  
Sex in the office was not a new thing for Tony Stark. Threesome in his office? That was new, but he suspected that Clint and Natasha were a double act. No complaints, he felt like he was being held warmly between two halves a whole, breathing with them, wanted and needed, and they laced their hands together over the arc reactor, protective. And more emotions spilled out of his mouth, he had no filters anymore it seemed. Those walls had come tumbling down, and they held him, and they didn’t laugh at how ridiculous it seemed on its face.  
They drug him to bed after, and he managed to sleep for a while, caught between them and their protective borderline paranoid hold. He was fine with it, more than fine, wanted it. Eventually his body pointed out that it was midafternoon and he probably really shouldn’t sleep all day, and they let him go, hugging him between them before sending him out the door with smiles. Disoriented and confused, he got on the elevator, and found Steve there, who just smiled at him knowingly.  
“What the hell is going on?” He wanted to know, slouching in the elevator, shirt untucked and tie hanging around his neck loose. “Are you guys fucking passing me around?”  
“Who got to you?” Steve replied, smirking.  
“Clint and Tasha.” He rubbed sleep out of his eyes. “And Pepper’s good with this? Why?”  
“Wow, you really were far gone weren’t you.” Steve’s eyes went sympathetic, stepping out of the elevator when Tony did though it was the wrong floor for Steve, roping him into a hug. “We were talking. You seemed scared. We made a judgment call.”  
He let himself sag in Steve’s arms, though part of him was putting up a warning flag. “A judgment call.” He repeated after a second. “Just tell me what’s going on.”  
“You love us, right? You love us, and you want us, and it was killing you.” He backed off, hands shifting to cradle along the back of Tony’s head and look him in eyes, seeing a guarded expression there. “So we all made a call and decided to give you what you want because we want you to be happy. Not that anyone was complaining at all.”  
“So you are passing me around.” Tony blinked.  
“No, you idiot, we’re grabbing you when we can to try to show we love you too.” Steve pressed a kiss to Tony’s forehead. “And that you don’t have to run away from us.”  
“This is really unbelievable.” He finally mumbled, blushing bright under the affection from fucking Captain America, of all people.  
“Well, so are you. Go change and get back to work, genius.” Steve smiled and pushed him toward his doorway, hitting the elevator button again, the doors slid back open immediately.  
“Should I be waiting for Thor?” He lifted an eyebrow.  
“I’d bet on it.” Steve agreed, and the elevator doors closed.  
Tony ended up sitting in the shower under the spray a while, just because it gave him some time to think. Okay. So he’d fallen in love with all his friends, and desperately wanted to be close to them, and bolted because he didn’t want to scare them away. And they’d seen right through him. Sexiest smartest people ever, he marveled. The long term implications were interesting, needless to say. And there was the floating question mark of Thor. Was Thor even bi? Then again, kinky Norse gods. Who knows, anyway. Overwhelming, really, how he’d come to love this many people. And love them romantically, not just as family, want them close as they’d have him. And apparently, they’d have him. He’d take it, and gladly.  
“Hey, Jarvis.” He said, not moving from the bottom of the shower.  
“Yes, sir.” Jarvis replied.  
“What do you think about all this?” He tilted his head back, staring up in the steamy enclosure.  
“I certainly would not know, sir, but I would recommend against seeking relationship counseling as you being in such a wide open polyamorous relationship would, inevitably, make the news.”  
And Tony laughed, long and hard, unable to help it. But, fuck, they were the Avengers, and the line between sex and violence was not a very good one on the best of days. “You know I loved you first, right?”  
“If I may say so, sir, I am quite unable to provide anything you want on a daily basis, or several times daily basis.” Jarvis was amused.  
“Even so.” And he got to his feet and shut the water off, deciding to go about his day, oddly giddy about it all and wondering what exactly Thor was going to do.  
Thor, oddly, took his time, and seemed to be watching him when the group was together. Most of the tenseness was out of Tony, the ache in his chest almost gone, and the others usually just treated him like they always had. But now, there was an electrical undercurrent between them all, and he enjoyed the hell out of it. How everyone went about their lives, including him, and he had the best friends in the universe, who sometimes would grab him and offer propositions. He never had the will to say no. As far as he was concerned they took priority over everything else, short perhaps the world exploding. And he was willing to make that wait as well. The phrase “hey, Tony” got an extra meaning to it. He was on cloud nine, largely considering himself largely the luckiest son of a bitch on the planet. And he still slept happily with Pepper and Bruce, who didn’t even seem all that upset about all of this.  
Tony was left wondering when exactly his heart had gotten big enough for all these people. Hopefully, there was still enough room in there for an oddly patient god of thunder, the last domino left standing in the chain.  
But Thor always seemed to be working on his own schedule, and Tony was sitting outside on his launch platform, legs dangling off and staring out at the city, when Thor stepped out and joined him, actually wearing casual clothes. “If I may have a word, Man of Iron?”  
“Yeah, sure. Of course.” Tony looked over his shoulder, feeling that zing and twist in his chest again. At least now, he knew what it was.  
Thor walked over and sat down next to him easily, one leg drawn up to his chest and staring down at the city. “You have been happier lately. I am very glad.”  
“Yeah, I… I still don’t know how to explain any of this.” Tony huffed out a sigh. “It’s not exactly normal for here.”  
“You can’t explain it?” Thor lifted an eyebrow. “You became a warrior, and fought alone, and now that you have those that would fight alongside you you desire the bond of warriors, that of flesh and love and commitment as well as dedication and loyalty. You just didn’t know what’s what you were going through, and it’s long gone from this world apparently.”  
“That’s as good as an explanation as any.” Tony laughed. “Thanks. Sounds a bit better than ‘Tony Stark is still a horrible slut.’ Is that how things work on Asgard?”  
“Not always.” Thor was still watching him. “It is up to the individuals, after all, but we do not judge.”  
“Yeah, thanks for that. I’ve largely felt like all of this was out of my control.”  
“Are the matters of the heart ever really under one’s control?” Thor shrugged.  
Tony blinked and looked back out over the city, clearing his throat. “Listen, uh. Don’t do anything that’ll get you in trouble with Jane, okay? This is all strange enough without me becoming a home wrecker.”  
“The bond of warriors is different than the bond one has with a woman, as well it should be. I would not do something to hurt my fair Jane, but I would not want to leave you aching.” Thor looped an arm around him and pulled him in, hand settling at his side and just keeping him there for a moment.  
Tony jumped a bit, then sighed and relaxed against Thor, leaning his head against Thor’s near shoulder, feeling the static in the air that followed the god of thunder around, that weird otherworldly strength and power. “Thank you for understanding.”  
“I am only too glad to.” Thor leaned his head on the top of Tony’s, and he felt the last domino neatly fall, the whole group held close to him, to his heart.

“Okay, I give. What the hell did you do to him?” Fury finally asked, watching battle footage of Ironman. He’d been shaky as hell for a few fights, and now not only was he back, he’d kicked it up a notch.  
Clint smiled vaguely. “That’s our secret. Satisfied?”  
“Yeah. And you know what? Don’t give me details. I think I’m better off not knowing.” He sat back and watched Clint leave, rubbing one of his temples. Whatever they’d done, the Avengers stayed solid. Good enough.


End file.
